Electrical contactor with novel terminal means



.Mw M3? MM5?? J. w. MQBARRY ELECTRICAL CONTACTOR WITH NOVEL TERMINAL MEANS Filed March 1B, 1.964

United States Patent O 3,320,561 ELECTRICAL CONTACTOR WITH NOVEL TERMINAL MEANS .lohn W. Mobarry, Edina, Minn., assignor to Honeywell Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 352,802 1 Claim. (Cl. 335-197) The present invention is broadly directed to an electrical connector, and more particularly is directed to an electrical connector that is uniquely adaptable for use in the electromagnetically operated contactor lield.

In the electrical eld various types of connectors for electric wiring have been utilized since the inception of the electrical arts. A continuous effort has been made to improve the function of the electrical connectors, as well as, continuously reduce the complexity and cost of the units. Along with considerations of utility and cost, in recent years, the physical size of electrical connectors and equipment has become of paramount importance. Electrical equipment and associated structure have been reduced in size for convenience utility, and appearance sake. The present invention is directed to a -unique type of electrical connector that is cheaper, more convenient to use, and smaller than its predecessors. j

It is the primary object of the present invention to disclose an electrical connector that is adapted specifically for use in electromagnetic contactors having relatively high current capacities but where space and cost are at a premium.

A further object of the present invention is to disclose a simplified electrical connector manufactured from a Single, elongated metalli-c blank and which has full utilization of a wire enclosure portion that is filled by a clamping screw.

Yet another object of the present invention is to disclose an improved electrical connector that utilizes a minimum of separate parts.

Still a further object of the present invention is to disclose an electrical connector for contactors wherein the terminal if formed from a unitary metallic blank and is interlocked in such a fashion as to provide a complete and full utilization of the space taken by the connector itself.

These and other objects will become apparent when the full disclosure of the invention is considered along with the drawings, wherein;

FIGURE 1 is a side View of a typical electrical contactor utilizing the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partial top view of one of the connectors of the present invention on the contacter of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a unitary elongated metallic blank used as the basis of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is an elevation of a completed electrical connector, and;

FIGURE 5 is a cross section of the completed unit of FIGURE 4 taken along lines 5 5.

In FIGURE 1 an electrical contactor is generally disclosed at 10. The contacter is of conventional configuration for the most part and incorporates frame means 11 that cooperatively holds an electromagnetic operating means 12 and a contact support means 13. The electromagnetic operating means 12 is selectively energized and electromagnetically attracts an armature (not shown) that in turn moves a contact means generally shown at 14. Contact means 14 includes a group of plastic support members 15, 16, and 17 that slide between four guides 20, 21, 22, and 23 that are integrally molded to the contact support means 13.

The movement of members 15, 16 and 17 within the guides 20, 21, 22, and 23 compresses three identical springs 24 which in turn load three identical shorting bars 25, as seen in FIGURE 2. The shorting bars 25 in turn short between identical terminal means 26 which form the heart of the present invention and are disclosed in detail in FIGURES 4 and 5. In FIGURE 2 a top View of the terminal means 26 is provided with the relationship of the terminal means 26 to the shorting bar 25 and the moving member 15 as guided between the supports 2t) and 21 of the contact support means 13. The contact support means has molded plastic walls 13 and 13 encircling the terminal means 26 to provide electrical insulation, as is common in this type of device.

In order to more fully understand the present invention, the detailed structure of the terminal means 26 will be explained in connection with FIGURES 3 to 5. In FIGUR-E 3 a unitary metallic blank 30 is disclosed. The blank 3i) is made of any convenient conductiveimetal and is formed, as will be described below. The unitary blank 30 has two elongated portions or projections 31 and 32 which form the heart of the present device. Ineluded on the unitary metallic blank are two additional projections 33 and 34. The projection 33 is an optional projection utilized as an auxiliary terminal support, as will be described later while the projection 34 is utilized to complete the terminal means 26, as also will be described below.

The blank 30 has a threaded mounting hole 35 and a threaded hole 36 for use in connection with the auX- iliary terminal 33. The blank 30 also has two holes 40 and 41 of identical size that are used to provide a threaded opening, as will be described subsequently. Adjacent the hole 40 is an opening 42 in the elongated portion 31. Adjacent the hole 41 in the elongated portion 32 is a projection 43 which is smaller than the hole 42. To complete the blank 30 two integral stops 44 and 45 are provided. When the blank 30 is formed, as will be described in detail, the stops 44 and 45 provide a wall for the terminal means 26 that is parallel to a plane that passes through the terminal means 26 so as to provide a stop means in the device.

The blank 30 of FIGURE 3 is formed by folding the elongated portions 31 and 32 into a wire enclosure portion 50 with walls 48 and 49, as best seen in FIGURE 5. The ends 51 and 52 of the blank 30 are caused to overlap with the projection 43 placed in the hole 42. In the device disclosed in the FIGURES 4 and 5, the wire enclosure portion Sti is rectangular in shape with the end 51 overlapping the end 52. The inner end 52 has the projection 43 passing through the hole 42 so as to interlock the ends 51 and 52 with the holes 40 and 41 substantially in alignment. The holes 40 and 41 are threaded to receive a threaded screw member 53 that passes through the holes 4t) and 41 and substantially fills the cross section of the wire enclosure portion 50 from wall 48 to Wall 49, as seen in FIGURE 5. It will be noted that the threaded screw member 53 completely fills the space between the walls 43 and 49 and that the elongated portions 31 and 32 of the blank 30 form continuous walls for the wire enclosure portion 50.

A key feature of the present invention is the incorporation of the projection 43 on the end of the elongated portion 32 of blank 30. It will be noted that the hole 41 occurs at a point on the end 52 of the elongated portion 32 so as to fall in line with the edge of projection 43. If the projection 43 were not present, the hole 41 would have little or no supporting metal at its edge 41. By adding the projection 43, the edge 41 has more than enough material to adequately support the threaded hole 41 at this location. The use of the tab 43 thus allows for providing a threaded screw member 53 that is capable of filling the wire enclosure portion Sti from wall 418 to wall 49, thereby eliminating the need of any type of intermediate clamping member to fill the space to prevent any stranded conductors which are placed in the wire enclosure portion 50 from getting into the space adjacent the walls 48 and 49 and the threaded member 53.

With the arrangement thus far disclosed, it becomes obvious that a terminal means 26 has been provided with a wire enclosure portion 50 that is fully utilized. By providing this utilization of the entire width of the wire enclosure portion, the terminal means 26 can be made smaller than previous devices which are capable of accepting the same size wire, but which use a small screw and some type of intermediate separator so that the wire does not bind between the screw and the walls of the terminal. It is thus apparent by the addition of the projection 43, and its projection into the opening 42, that a unique type of terminal means has been provided.

In addition to the utilization of the entire width of the wire enclosure portion 50, the addition of the integral stops 44 and 45 provide a function that will now be described. By placing the stops 44 and 45 on the blank 30, when the blank is bent into the configuration disclosed in FIGURES 4 and 5, the stops 44 and 45 separate the end 55 (FIGURE 4) of the wire enclosure portion 50 from the projection 34. The projection 34 is used to support a silver or similar contact 56 of conventional configuration. It will be noted that the stops 44 and 45 thus prevent a wire which enters the wire enclosure portion 50 from protruding past the end 55 of the enclosure portion and interfering with the contact 56. When this configuration is considered in FIG- URE 2, it will be noted that the stops 44 and 45 thus protect the shorting bar from interference when the shorting bar 25 is moved to short between the terminal means 26. The use of the stops 44 and 45 thus prevent an inadvertent malfunction by a wire being placed into the contactor to a point where an interference with its operation might occur.

In addition to the projection 34, a projection 33 on blank was described as containing a threaded hole 36. The projection 33 is bent downward and is used as an auxiliary terminal when combined with a screw 57. This can be seen clearly in FIGURES l and 2. In addition to the auxiliary terminal formed by the projection 33 and screw 57, auxiliary terminals 58, disclosed in FIGURE l can be attached to the projection 33. The terminals 58 are of a quick connecting type well known in the electrical arts. By the use of the auxiliary terminals 58 or the screw 57 various control circuits can be connected to the main terminal means 26 to complete electric circuits in combination with the contactor 10.

The present invention specifically encompasses a terminal means 26 of a unique configuration wherein all of the wire enclosure portion 50 is made usable. By the use of the projection 43 passing into the hole 42, the walls 4S and 49 of the wire enclosure portion 5l) are made to conform to the width of the threaded screw member 53 thereby making the entire space usable. This is accomplished by providing a continuous margin of metal around the threaded opening 41 at 41 to support the threaded screw 53 in its entireity. The terminal means 26 is further made utilitarian by the addition of stops 44 and 45 so that a wire passing into the wire enclosure portion 50 cannot be inadvertently inserted to a depth where it will interfere with the operation of the electrical contactor 10. These two features make the present terminal means particularly valuable in the electrical contactor art since the structure eliminates excess pieces and makes the terminal means as small as is physically possible. The smallness of the physical size and the simplicity make the device economical and practical for high protection contactors now coming into general use in the electrical control art. The invention disclosed by the applicant specifically in FIGURES 1 to 5, is an example of the preferred embodiment of the invention. Since it is obvious that the invention could be varied by changes in configuration of the members, the applicant wishes to be limited in the scope of the present invention only by the appended claim.

I claim:

An electrical contactor, including: frame means cooperatively holding electromagnetic operating means and contact support means; contact means and terminal means mounted on said contact support means with said contact means operated by said electromagnetic operating means; said terminal means including a wire enclosure portion formed from a metallic blank; said enclosure portion having a continuous series of walls formed by bending two ends of said blank until the ends overlap; one of said ends having a projection that passes into an opening in said blank; a threaded opening aligned through said overlapping ends to thereby provide continuous threading through two thicknesses of said metallic blank; and a threaded screw member that passes through said threaded opening and being substantially the same width as said wire enclosure portion; said projection providing a continuous margin of metal around said threaded opening to support said threaded screw member through both thicknesses of said metallic blank thereby providing said threaded screw member with a sufficient continuous threaded opening to prevent said threaded screw member from stripping said threaded opening when said threaded crew member is utilized as part of said terminal means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,173,206 9/1939 Landmeier.

2,811,704 10/ 1957 Newman.

2,919,327 12./1959 Kuhn et al. 20G-104 2,943,294 6/1960 Norden 339-272 3,075,164- l/l963 Humpage et al. 339-244 BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examinez'.

R. N. ENVALL, IR., Assistant Examiner. 

